Srinagar-Jammu highway closed for traffic

SRINAGAR: Traffic on the national highway, the only all weather road connecting Kashmir valley with the rest of the country, has been suspended on Tuesday for maintenance following landslides and shooting stones, triggered by heavy rains.

Meanwhile, the national highway, the only road connecting Union Territory (UT) of Ladakh with Kashmir, historic Mughal road and Anantnag-Kishtwar road remained closed due to accumulation of snow and avalanches.

A traffic police official said this morning that no traffic was allowed today on the highway from Jammu or Srinagar.

He said there were landslides and shooting stones at several places between Banihal, Ramban and Ramsu due to overnight rain.

In view of the inclement weather prediction issued by the Meteorological department for next 24 hours which could cause landslides and shooting stones at several places, the traffic department had announced closure of the highway today to undertake necessary repair work.

Decision to resume traffic on the highway tomorrow will be taken only after assessing the condition of the road, he said.

Meanwhile, there was fresh snowfall at several places during the night on the national highway connecting Ladakh with Kashmir valley which remained closed since January 1.

However, Beacon had cleared the snow and declared the highway open on February 28 only to suspend traffic again after few hours due to fresh snowfall and avalanches.

However, traffic was allowed from Srinagar to tourist resort of Sonamarg on the highway after remaining suspended for about a week.

The historic 86-km-long Mughal road which remained closed for any traffic or pedestrian movement since December last year. There are many avalanche prone areas on the road, connecting Shopian in south Kashmir with Rajouri and Poonch in Jammu region.

The Anantnag-Kishtwar road also remained closed due to accumulation of snow.